


Upstream

by Guivre_Rose



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-04-11 17:01:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4444469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guivre_Rose/pseuds/Guivre_Rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Every ten years, comes Vaatu's Reckoning. A barbaric festival requiring a human sacrifice in order to stave off Vaatu's wrath.</p><p>And yet of all the people to be chosen, it had to be Asami. </p><p>Korra must choose to either to ensure humanity's survival, or to risk it all and break a thousand year old tradition to save the one she loves. (Explicit for later)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tideshift

**Author's Note:**

> No Beta, a very rough but decently outlined story. I ask you have patience for any errors you see in my writing. I do my best to proofread it all myself, but I have a horrid habit of getting anxious and posting it without proofing it for the 20th time.  
> Despite the novice mistakes, I hope you enjoy the fic!

A click resounded through the room as the door closed, signifying the end the of their conversation. She sighed heavily, breathing out the last bit of tension that had been weighing her down for the past several months.

Already, her heart felt lighter.

She swiped at the control panel, flicking her fingers across the multiple blue-shaded hologram. The room immediately dimmed several shades down, followed by cool air blowing from the vents. She swiped the control panel again, powering it down back to sleep mode.

Rubbing a knuckle against the knot of muscles between her eyes, she huffed a well earned sigh and flopped on her slim bed.

“Finally.” She breathed out.

The door gently opened again, though her sharp hearing had picked up the footsteps and the clicks before the door had even motioned to drift open. A head poked its way in the opening, as well as hand gripping on the door for balance.

“Korra?” A voice with a baritone rumble asked. His torso gradually pushed its way through the opening of the door, not entirely entering the room but still trying desperately to make his presence inescapably obvious. “How’d it go with Mako?”

She lifted her head and propped herself on her elbows, showing him the eased smile on her face. “Really well. At least, I think it did,” Korra brushed a loose lock of hair and looped it back behind her ear. “I think we’re finally okay now, Bolin.”

Bolin burst in, letting out a loud sound of approval and then sagging his chest down to his knees. “Finally is right! It was so hard not picking sides with you two, honestly! I’m so happy that’s all behind you guys!” His head shot up, his eyes wide with both excitement and relief.

Korra’s smile shifted slightly to become saddened one. Truly, Bolin placed between the two of them must of been wearing him thin. Either she had failed to see it or had simply been too selfish to.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re the one who knew how to hold our team together. I know Opal tried to keep the peace, but you definitely kept it functional.” She squeezed his shoulder tightly to enunciate her next words. “I really appreciate it, Bolin.”

“Awe…” Bolin gushed, throwing an arm behind his head bashfully as he tried not to look his ranking superior in the eye. “It wasn’t all that bad….okay, maybe it was. And maybe I did a lot to keep you guys from killing each other and getting us all kicked out of the Balancer program.”

Korra looked to the floor, letting the shame rinse over her one final time. “I know I’ve been a really lousy captian… I’m just so glad you and Opal were good enough to stick with me.” She perked up, a flare of determination unknowingly shining within her eyes. “But I’ll make it up to you! All of you!”

Bolin’s grin grew further until he couldn’t contain it to only a simple grin, so he threw his arms around the dark skinned girl and lifted her heartily in the air. “That’s what I want to hear! Good to have you back, Captain!”

Korra laughed, dismissing the fact that Bolin’s massive arms were tempting to crush her ribs. His platypus-bear hugs were always worth the discomfort.

He set her down, then straightened up. “I guess the timing couldn’t be any better! So!” Hands on his hips, he puffed out his chest proudly. “You’ll never guess who got us a spot on the reinforcements list for a mission happening this weekend!”

“What! Really?! How’d you do it?” Korra’s pride only briefly berated her that it was thanks to her sour attitude in the past few months that her team was deemed unfit to carry out any mission requests. However, the sheer idea of getting back into action so soon thrilled her enough to immediately forget the bitter thought.

“It was mostly Opal, actually. ” Bolin confessed meekly, deflating slightly as he scratched his chin. “Having a Beifong on the team is always a way to get attention. As usual.”

Normally, Korra would be irritated that titles and noble family names bought their way into anything, rather than skill and qualification alone. But still, she was far too excited for the opportunity. They had been out of action for far too long.

“Anyways, our good ol’ Airbender got Lin’s attention to reconsider, so we’re standing in on second placing! But it gets better!”

Korra took a few steps back, then sat on the edge of her bed, and looking at her friend eagerly to continue.

“Turns out, the response team they originally requested is still stuck on their other mission, and there’s no way they’ll make it in town in time. Even if they do finish up their current job. So our only real competition is….” A mischievous grin blossomed on his face, “Get this, none other than Tahno’s squad!”

Korra threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, this is too perfect! We just have to have a better synchronicity score during diagnostics, and we’ll be in! There’s no way we’ll fail, eithr, especially since Mako and I finally talked things out!”

“Exactly!” Bolin barked in, laughing giddily as well.

Korra punched the air above her victoriously, and hopped up on her feet immediately.

“This is so great! Did you tell Mako yet?”

“I was gonna right after I let the Captain know!”

“Then hop to it, solider!” Korra exclaimed and saluted sharply, to which Bolin responded in kind. They both snickered and burst out laughing again. It took Korra pushing him out of the door to hurry him along.

“The sooner our Firebender is fired up, the more we’re gonna scorch that test and Tahno’s squad along with it!”

“Yes ma’am!” Bolin sloppily saluted again, and then took off down the hallway.

Korra leaned against her room door as she shut it, her face starting to ache from the good news.

“Finally is right!” She whispered happily to herself.

 

* * *

 

   
To anyone else, it was as if they were a completely different Balancer squad.

Not just two weeks ago and the weeks before, Korra was angrily shouting at her team and trying to command them as she commanded her water. Mako would always be the first to question her judgement, to which it would quickly all fall apart from there. Usually it ended in one, if not all of them being injured. Not to mention the sore stamp of being disqualified to serve as active Balancers with a humiliating two week suspension. Were it not for Opal’s relations and their overall natural talents, Korra knew they should of been either reassigned or expelled from the program entirely.

This morning, however, they were perfect.

The test today was against a simulation of a hideous cross between a wolf-bat, a sand-shark and the legs and print of a polar-leopard. Clearly, it’s main intention was the scare anyone taking a simulation test, to which Korra could only imagine how pleased the designer was in creating such a beast. Korra also figured they must of wanted her squad to fail quickly and get on with it, and gave them such a difficult opponent to test with. She would bet money it was Tarrlok’s idea if it meant he could have an earlier lunch.

And yet it gave them all the more reason to dazzle the observers with their overnight transformation.

Korra surprised her teammates by ordering them to freely initiate the attack. She was usually the hot-headed one first to strike, which likely was what led to most of their past failures.

Bolin charged first, and with a harsh landing, threw the simulation off balance as two pillars of stone erupting from the ground immediately as he stomped the floor. Opal and Mako simultaneously struck, knocking the creature on its side with their own respective elements. Opal conjuring a blast of wind, propelling and expanding Mako’s spout of fire into a fearsome inferno. Korra patiently held her position back and observed to make sure her teammates were safe and in formation for their next attack.

The creature rolled around, flailing furiously as it regained its footing. Quickly, it jerked up it’s head in a snarl, but Korra saw the sweep of the land shark tail coming thanks to her wide view and distance. She also caught the raised eyebrows of the observers from the corner of her eye as she flexed and a responding wave of water solidified to an icy wall to block a giant tail from slamming into Bolin. The tail slid, redirecting off the ice enough for Mako to scorch the exposed underside with a whip of searing white fire.

Korra was certain they were tempting her when the wolf bat hybrid had several perfect openings that would nothing but ideal for any Waterbender to take advantage of. But at the same time, Mako was in need of a quick getaway. Korra supplied him one with a makeshift slide of ice to dodge the stomping feet above him. Another obvious opening occurred as Opal pushed a gust of wind to force the beast to look up and clamp it’s flapping jaw shut. This caused it to begin raising its front paws up high, which would undoubtedly knock Mako and Bolin off their feet should it be allowed to stomp down.

Instead of taking the kill herself, Korra steadied her stance, pulling her arms back to have the water dwelling in the small moats in the floor to quickly mirror her movements. The water swept back and wrapped around Mako and Bolin to pull them back to safety near herself. Satisfied with their safer standpoint, she quickly punched her arms forward just as the beast broke free from Opal’s tunnel of wind. The water shot forward and into a spiral, to which Korra twisted her arm and flexed hard, forcing the water to freeze the beast’s chest in place.

Mako and Bolin threw their elements at the beast’s neck, causing the hybrid to roar and screech in its trapped position. The ice cracked slightly, but it wasn’t quite enough to break Korra’s thick layer of ice binding it down. This bought Opal the time she needed to finish her new currents of wind to entrap the beast’s head in a vacuum condensed orb. The breath was being yanked out of its supposed lungs, and with its legs and chest frozen, the struggling would only speed up Opal’s work. It had no means to escape in time before it would suffocate.

The simulation phased out of sight, then green lights flashed around the arena. A loud, pleasant tone chimed over the speakers as the green lights flickered to the regular lighting.

They had passed!

Korra sighed gratefully as her teammates swarmed around her. She glanced up at the control box where judgement of their performance was being decided. However, the engineers were making it too obvious. Much to her surprise, they all stood and began to applaud them.

“Well done, Squad Mir!” The intercom boomed out Kya’s voice. “Excellent defensive maneuvers, Captain! It’s very refreshing to see you go back to your Waterbender roots. Watching out for your comrades rather than your usual aggressive approach truly shows us you are taking your position as captain more seriously.”

Korra’s cheeks colored and she stiffly saluted in response, “Ma’am! Thank you, ma’am!”

“We look forward into seeing more major improvements in the future, Sqaud Mir.” Another voice drawled, Tarrlok. He almost sounded impressed. “You will be notified and debriefed at seventeen-hundred hours, keep your COMs on standby. Dismissed!”

Bolin bounced between Opal and Korra as the doors shut behind them, throwing an arm over both of the girls. “Did you hear that?! He said “debriefed!” That means we have that mission all to ourselves!”

Mako nodded in agreement. Even with his usual stoic demeanor, even he was doing a terrible job at containing his happiness. “That’s true, they never let you know if you got the job right after testing. We must of really impressed them.”

“We were so horrible before,” Korra said lowly, to which everyone agreed in silence but preferred not to comment aloud. “ But how could we not impress them! You guys were all amazing!”

“What’s this?” Opal looked up into Korra’s face. “You’re praising us? And you didn’t take any of those openings they gave you.”

“I saw that, too.” Mako playfully nudged Korra’s shoulder with his own. “She’s making us do all the work!”

“Who are you and what have you done with our captain?” Bolin played along, lifting Korra up in a playful attempt to seem threatening. After being set free, Korra continued to laugh as her team teased her on their way out of the arena.

“Whatever, you guys!” She finally pushed them off as they exited the building. “Meet back here before call time, ok? I want us all to be together when we get debriefed!”

“Captain!” They all saluted her in precise sync, causing her to spout another laugh. She informally waved her hand to dismiss them. She waited and watched them as they dispersed. Korra turned her attention to the fountain guarding the main courtyard. A massive statue of a bald man in his crisp Balancer uniform, complete with a decorated traditional Airbender garbs draped over his uniform. It was a somewhat new addition to headquarters, likely because of the controversy surrounding the person it was dedicated after. Korra was infinitely grateful that Commander Aang had received some amount recognition in the end after all he had done.

Her chest painfully tightened sadly to see the statue of Aang, but at the same time, it fueled a small ray of hope alongside that pain.

“That was quite the display your team did,” A familiar, warm voice said. Korra spun around and went rigid.

“Katara-“ She swallowed her words. “I uh, sorry! Sifu Katara!” She bowed her head, hoping that none of her other superiors were watching. Staring at Aang’s statue too long would look suspicious, and referring to her own mentor so casually would most definitely paint her suspect to authority.

The old woman laughed. “Korra, you know me better than that. Formalities really aren’t necessary.”

“Yes, but, you never know who could be listening, we are still technically at base, even if we are outside. Knowing my luck, Raiko himself will have heard me and I’ll be shipped off to babysit rookies for a month just for not calling you by your proper titles.”

Katara nodded. “Of course, how about we go into the city for lunch then?”  
The younger tribeswoman beamed. “I would love that.”

 

* * *

 

   
“I’m surprised you’re not out celebrating with your teammates, Korra.” Katara said after the young woman handed her a bowl the steaming cabbage soup.

“For actually doing what we were trained to do?” Korra scoffed, lifting a leg over the bench and hopping over to sit down, all while impressively not spilling her own soup. “No…I’m glad we’re getting back on track, of course, it’s just…well, that stupid holiday is coming up.”

Katara let out a hum of understanding, her expression darkening. “Vaatu’s Reckoning.”

“I don’t see how anyone really sees it as a holiday or why it’s even called that!” Korra glumly muttered into her spoon. “Throwing away someone’s life so everyone else can be left alone for another decade? What’s to celebrate about that?”

“Many see it as a sacrifice for the greater good. How that it’s a time to humble ourselves to put the well being of everyone before yourself.” Katara recited. Though Korra had known Katara enough to pick up on her sarcasm.  Korra only grumbled more deeply about a “stupid, evil jelly-squid kite.”

“You’re not the only one who thinks this way, Korra,” Katara said in more hushed tone. “Some people will try to see the best in a situation to handle it better, while others will think that this is just a barbaric and oppressive tradition that-"

“That needs to stop.” Korra finished the statement for her former mentor, then sighed into her soup hopelessly.

“Though then that would mean dealing with the monster himself,” Katara added. “People have tried for centuries to find a way to defeat Vaatu, and every failed attempt has cost humanity dearly.”

“So one person is more than a fair trade, huh?” Korra snorted, and then angrily slurped her soup. “Sorry, this is why I try to stay away from people during this time of year. I mean, I’m not usually this bad...I don't think. But, this year is the _actual_ butchering ceremony…”

“I understand your frustration, I really do.” Katara had somehow managed to finish her meal without Korra ever really noticing she was eating to begin with. “I do hope you get through it without much trouble.”

“It’s just…it goes against everything that us Balancers stand for, doesn’t it?” Korra couldn’t stop herself from venting to her mentor, but she did have the sense to lower her voice within her own earshot. “We’re supposed to protect people, work together and try and find some peace. And then once every ten years, we have to flip back and do the opposite?”

Katara reached over and covered her aged hand over Korra’s tightly balled fist.

“It just feels like we’re doing Vaatu’s dirty work for him. It.” She corrected herself with a grunt. “Whatever that overgrown monster kite is.”

Katara patted Korra’s hand. “I believe that, someday, it won’t always be like this.”

Korra made a grunting noise and shrugged, forcing herself to not respond before she became too emotional.

“I best be getting back,” Katara rose and Korra took her empty bowl with her free hand. “Someone has to make sure the festival preparations don’t go all that smoothly, after all.”

Korra chuckled. Just imagining Katara making her uncle’s planning for the festival be inconvenienced was more than enough to make her smile.

“Thanks for the lunch, it’s always a pleasure spending time with you, Sifu Katara.” She said, bowing her head respectively to Katara, whom nodded all the same.

“Likewise, Korra.” The elder smiled and made her exit.

Korra took the back exit, frown creasing her forehead and mouth alike as she saw the preposterous decorations being put it on street lamps and buildings. Pitch black. Blood red. And the most greedy shade of gold Korra could fathom. Somehow, the specific shades used for the event always sent chills of fear down everyone’s spines. Korra knew that that was the effect it was supposed to have.

She was so lost in thought brooding over the barbaric holiday that Korra had failed to look both ways while crossing the street. The traffic was not so busy, casual enough for people to dart across to the other side of the street without much pause. And yet, Korra still should have been able to notice the sleek black car barreling down the street after making a sharp turn.

The horn hardly blared in time, and Korra only had a moment to react. She instinctively jumped up a half second too late. Though she did land both feet on the hood of the car, the jerk of the car stopping short caused her to lose her balance and threw her right back on the street. The stomach turning crack that ripped through her head was the last thing she could process before all light and consciousness cut out.

 

* * *

   
“…this can’t be happening, how could I be so careless!”

A ticking metronome of dull pain clicked through Korra’s head, ushering out a dull moan to match the grinding agony in the back of her head.

“You’re awake!” A voice cried out, and Korra could feel the surface beneath her shift. She clenched her hand and pushed against the surface, it felt to be a mattress. And a very soft one, at that. Korra peeked open one eye, but seeing the bright light was what waited for her, she decided better of it and shut both eyes tight.

“What…?” She tried to say, but her voice was too dry to be properly audible.

“I am so sorry, I really really did not see you come out of that alleyway! I’m so glad I didn’t actually hit you-“

Korra waved a hand around touched at source of the noise. After finding the person’s face, she quickly put her hand over their mouth.

“Loud…talking….stop…” Korra murmured, her scratchy voice fitting to how she felt.

She heard a muffled apology and the weight leaning into the mattress vanished.

“Is there anything I can get you?” She said softly. She was close enough to where Korra could both hear and feel the low vibrations in her voice. It was both relaxing and, Korra dare not ever admit, sultry.

“Wa-“

“Water! Of course!”

Korra bobbed her head to the side. This one was a quick one, that was for sure. Within seconds, the nervous female’s footsteps had reentered the room.

“If I can get you sit up-“

“No need.” Korra said lightly, feeling the cool glass pressed against her knuckles. She pulled her hand back, sensing the water lightly swish in the glass next to her. Rolling her hand and creating pulling motions with her fingers, the responded and water lifted from the glass from nothing as Korra guided it to her mouth.

“You’re a-“

Korra swallowed gratefully. “Yup.” She sighed, covering her face with her arm. “Could we lose the lights? Its so bright in here, I’m afraid to open my eyes.”

“Yes!” The presence left her side again, and within a moment, Korra heard the sound of a control panel activating and the noises it being used. Everything dimmed to a gentle shadow.

“Thanks,” Korra opened her eyes and slowly sat up, careful not to move her head. She looked around to see her host and noticed a tall woman now standing by the window. Her gaze continued and she noticed that the city lights were out-

“Oh, _sweet flameo!_ What time is it?!” Korra exclaimed, but immediately regretted it as the sudden motion brought forth a sledge of pain to the back of her head. The woman rushed over and firmly yet gently pushed Korra back down into the bed.

“Don’t get up yet, you had a really nasty fall, after all.” She scolded, her dark and long hair spilling over her shoulder as she leaned over. “And to answer your question, its eight, almost nine at night.”

Korra groaned. “Oh nooooo, my team is gonna kill me." The realization immediately hit her as she said it, and she revised the statement aloud. " _Mako_ is going to kill me, for sure!“

“Team?” The woman repeated aloud. “You’re….a Balancer as well?”

“Not for long! I’m certainly a very late and dead Balancer, yeah!” Korra hissed as she felt a sting hit her head when she tried to move her head again. “Ugh, and today started off so great, too-“

“Do you have the tracker on your COM set?”

“My COM!” Korra looked to her arm, only to see that it was bare. “Where did it go?!” 

  
“Relax, I took it off trying to find your contact list, but you had it locked.” The woman laughed pitifully to herself and pressed her palm into her forehead, clearly berating herself. “Of course you had it secured, I can’t believe I didn’t think to notice your COM’s model-“

“Can I see it?” Korra demanded more than she requested. “I must have at least a half a million summons by now.”

The woman went to a nearby dresser, and picked up the armband to hand to Korra. As soon as she was close enough, Korra snatched it and looked to the small screen. Within seconds, she had Opal on speaker.

“Captain?!” Her pitched and very worried voice chimed in. “We’ve been trying to contact you for hours! Are you alright!?”

“I think so,” Korra responded. “I was in a little accident, but I’m okay now. Some girl picked me off the streets.” Korra wiped a hand over her face, she reciting a wish like a mantra in her head that she had not screwed things up for her team.

“Why was your tracker turned off!?!” Mako’s voice spiked through the speaker, causing Korra to lean back abruptly. Korra was certain if he could, he would reach through Opal's and Korra's COMs and throttle Korra himself. 

“I don’t know, maybe the settings are off?” Korra lied on the spot. “I just got this new one a few days ago.”

“Korra,” He growled. “That’s really irresponsible, you’re suppose to be our leader! How can we-“

“How did the debriefing go?” She cut in, not wanting to argue with her headache or the company in the room.  

“It was just in a message, not a conference call, for starts. We’re okay on that.” Opal, thankfully, took over the call once again. Korra could hear hushed arguing, which led her to assume Opal was trying to keep Mako away and out of the call.

Korra sighed in relief, since the Captain of a squad not being present would have reflected very badly. Her team could not afford any mishaps, even with their near perfect synchronicity test score from this morning.

“It’s an escort and bodyguard mission-“

All too aware of the stranger in the room, Korra immediately cut in, “I can’t talk right now, Opal. But I can meet up with one of you to discuss the job-”

“There’s a lockdown order tonight, Captain.” Opal interjected. “Dark spirits were sighted in the city a few hours ago. Seems like the spirits are already starting to gather for the festival.”

“This early? Really?” Korra growled in frustration, flinching as she turned her head too quickly and earning herself another thrum of pain. “Looks like I’m stuck where I’m at for the night.”

“Looks like.”

“Fine, I’ll…” Korra stopped to sigh, rubbing her temples. “I’ll be in contact with you in the morning and we can meet up and go over the job. Or whenever the lockdown is removed. I would much rather have a little pow-wow in person.”

“Understood. And Korra? Be safe. And thank you for contacting me as soon as you could.”

Korra's chest softened hearing the genuine concern in Opal's voice. “Of course. I’ll meet with you later.”

Korra slouched, frowning deeply as she set her COM on the nightstand. She certainly had dodged a bullet. Had she had the tracking on, Korra possibly could have avoided most of this mess, but how could she know she was going to be knocked out cold after dodging a car? It wasn’t all to blame, though, Korra had such a terrible habit of disabling tracking for her own privacy. She found it to be an absolute necessity this time of year, what with her given need to remain alone during span of Vaatu’s Reckoning. It was to spare everyone else her brooding, but also minimize the risk of herself being incarcerated for treason. Or was it heathenism? Whatever charge they would cook up to hold against her for speaking ill of Vaatu, it was never worth the risk.

“Was that your….friend? Teammate?” The woman asked suddenly. Korra looked around and noticed her entering the room again and holding a small plate of sorts.

“Yeah, I just let her know I’m alive. Should be okay now.” Korra stated, trying to get a look at the woman. Although the woman seemed quite intent on not showing her face.

“That’s good…do you have anywhere you need to be?”

“Not in particular.” Korra’s mind recounted how she ended up here and then she slowly turned to face the other girl in the room. “Speaking of, you were in quite the hurry to be going that fast. I should be asking if I’m keeping you from something?”

“It…it’s a long story.” The woman responded hesitantly.

“Well, with this lockdown, I guess neither of us are going anywhere anytime soon. All plans and bets are off!” Korra tilted her head, trying to read this girl’s expression. She looked away quickly and a taste of suspicion filled Korra’s gut.

“Okaaaaay, well, mind telling me where we are then? Last thing I remember is eating asphalt.”

“We're at the Four Elements hotel." She clarified. Korra's eyebrows shot up. Such a hotel was not even close to convenient nor easily affordable.

"After you…fell, I wanted to get you help. But then the sirens went off and everyone was ordered to find the nearest shelter immediately. So, I just took you with me. This was honestly the closest place I could get us to before everything was blocked off. I couldn’t just …leave you there.”

Korra swallowed. So many people likely would have ditched her on the spot, it was near impossible not to panic when the sirens went off. Her thoughts dared to think what would of happened if this young woman had not felt guilty for their unfortunate run in.

“You’re welcome to stay the night, I’ve already paid for it." She was twisting her hands against each other, and seemed to be starting at a spot on the flooring. "I-I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up, but I can just get another room. It’s not like-“

Korra let out a stiff laugh. “No, I don’t mind.” She immediately wished she hadn’t said that, realizing how odd it would be sharing a room with someone who almost mowed her down with a roadster.

“Oh!” She set down the plate she was holding on the nearby dresser, carefully maintained her distance from Korra as she sat on the leather couch next to the window. “I did use a kit for your head to patch up the worst of that head injury. I just wouldn’t go head butting anyone anytime soon.”

Korra squinted. “A kit?” She felt the back of her head, and sure enough, no bumps or cuts of any sort were there.

“How’d you…? Unless you can heal-“

The girl waved her hands and shook her head. “No, no. I just happened to have a Light Spirit kit on me-“

“You “happened” to have a Spirit kit?!” Korra repeated. “Unless you’re a walking ambulance or something, why would anyone just “happen” to have one of those? Those are way too pricey for just anyone to have as some first aid kit-“

The girl fidgeted nervously, and Korra clamped her mouth shut as soon as she realized how rude she was being. Korra had sworn to herself the previous night that she would be more cautious about shooting her mouth off. It was half the reason her squad was able to function as well as it did for their test, after all.

“I mean, um, I-I’m sorry. Forget it.” Korra stammered, looking aside and clenching the soft and dark bedsheets under her hands. “You patched me up and I only have a headache to worry about thanks to you! Who cares about the details, right?”

The girl forced a laugh, and glanced at Korra, but still appeared too nervous to contribute much else. Not that Korra blamed her, she had essentially assaulted a Balancer. Had Korra felt vengeful at all, this girl would probably not see the light of day until the next Vaatu’s Reckoning festival.

“Anways, um. Thank you. You didn’t have to help me, but you did. I appreciate you even wasting a Light Spirit kit on little old me, too.” She winked and tried to make it sound as much like a joke as possible.

The girl’s laugh loosened into a chuckle, easing Korra’s anxiety over upsetting the kind stranger.

“I’m sorry I ruined your night.” She said quietly, staring off out the window. Korra could hear the sincerity in her voice, yet did not know how to properly respond.

With how dark the room was, Korra still couldn’t make out what she looked like. All she had to go by was a shadowed figure and the sound of her voice.

“Is there anyone else you need to contact?”

“No, I’m alright.”

“Don’t you have a family?”

Korra shrugged. “Unless you count my polar bear dog…”

“Parents?”

She laughed. “Not local, that's for sure.”

“A…boyfriend?”

Korra laughed louder and longer than before. “Definitely not! Free as a phoenix-dragon!”

“Okay.” She paused, clearly thinking to herself and deciding things on her own. “I really hate to leave you here on your own, so as an apology for nearly making you a smear into the road, I'd be happy to stay up and make sure you don't black out or anything. Just to to be sure.”

“Just to be sure, huh?” Korra hinted, smirking at her. With the darkness, Korra couldn’t tell her reaction.

“Well, if it makes you feel better.” Korra didn’t really quite care what the woman did, however, she did have a sound point. She wasn’t threatening, at least, not in the sense where Korra felt in danger. She didn’t seem to have weapons, and judging from her reaction from earlier, was not able to manipulate any elements.

“I’m Asami,” She finally said, holding up a hand in place of a wave. “I guess you could say I’m just passing through town. Again, I’m really sorr-“

Korra held up a hand. “If you’re really sorry for running me over, then please, stop apologizing. Seriously. I’ve been run over by saber-tooth moose lions and hit by puma goats before. And they pack more of a punch than five cruddy Cabbage Corp. trucks!”

Asami chuckled and brushed her hair back in a sweeping motion. Korra couldn’t help but be impressed by the fluid motion, before she had thought that was just an effect done in movers and advertising. She decided to keep any comments about it to herself.  
“Alright, then.” Asami looked awkwardly around the lightless room, excluding the city poorly illuminating the room from below. “What can be done to make you feel better then? What do usually do after you’ve been run over by a saber-toothed moose lion?”

Korra didn’t have to think of an answer. Although, the request would likely sound absurd to anyone who was not a Waterbender or at least knew one.

“Does this place have a pool?”


	2. Ripples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this didn't take me five-ever to finally finish up. Whoops. Sorry for the wait!

In her head, Korra counted down from thirty seconds after Asami had left the room. It left room for the chance should Asami backtrack and return to the room for whatever reason. She had claimed she needed to check with the front desk on a personal matter, and requested Korra to wait until she returned, but she had overlooked the detail of actually having the Waterbender agree to it.

As soon as her mental countdown reached zero, Korra pushed herself off the bed, snatched the spare access bracelet from the dresser, and quickly left the room.

Sensing all of the water directed through the pipes within the hollow walls was did nothing to calm Korra’s nerves. As generous as Asami was, Korra was still uneasy around the stranger. There was something she was clearly hiding. Korra wondered if Asami was purposefully hiding her face to Korra or if the universe itself was simply teasing Korra. Her imagination was already starting to jump to conclusions. One prominent idea that kept coming forward in her mind was that everything was part of some elaborate plan to abduct her.

Though rare, extreme Vaatu worshippers were rumored to target Balancers and "make examples of them." Balancers fundamentally contradicted everything the dark spirit embodied, and every so often the cultists seemed to think that by terrorizing a few officers that it would keep people scared and "appease" their personal deity.

Korra felt she needed to dull the headache and get herself calm down. Regardless if she was unknowingly being held against her will, no man, beast or spirit would have an easy time subduing Captain Korra. 

Repeating her rank to herself was always the quickest route to boosting Korra’s confidence, especially in scenarios where she felt uneasy. As she did, she subconsciously rubbed the black and dark blue Mastery tattoos that encircled around her exposed upper arms. 

Her eyes needed to adjust to the dramatic change in lighting. After cooping herself up in a dark room for a time to quell her intrusive headache, it was an especially unpleasant transition. 

It was a romantic, yellowish glow that illuminated the hallways, giving the feel that a warm, cozy fireplace was nearby. Pressing her hands on the walls until her palms laid flat, Korra pressed her ear to the eggshell colored stone walls. Muffled currents sped by in every which way. She only needed to tap into it and find the course. Admittedly, it did not require someone to be a Waterbender to by able to read the movements of water. On the surface, the source of the flow and its direction was what it typically all came down to. It was connection itself with the fluidity and nature of water that separated her from non-Waterbenders. 

The crisscrossing pipes were only mildly confusing, but they all had a general direction from which they came and where they were going. Finding the louder and larger pockets was even easier, so much that Korra wouldn't even have to resort to meditating in order find the exact location of the water our source she was searching for.

Grazing her fingers against the wall as she walked, she followed her path, and after traveling two flights of stairs above the her floor level, she came to a dead end hallway. A strong smell of salt water clung to the air, as well as a distinct feeling of moisture. There was also the giveaway of a weak but ever present mildew scent that came from rugs lining the hallways. 

The access band on her wrist blinked its four tiny lights in four tiny successive colors: red, yellow, blue and green. Carefully engraved on the slim, silver bracelet was the hotel brand’s name: Republic City Four Elements.

A nearby black control panel responded and blinked back at the bracelet with an intense red light, which switched to a bright blue light. Korra motioned her wrist over it, and a tall wood panel door slid out of place for granted access.

Korra inhaled the salty scent from the water as she beheld the impressive pool in front of her. The bottom of the pool was soaking up the underwater lights, fading from the elemental colors according to the traditional cycle order. Live plants were arranged to recreate a tropical look, replicating the rare pockets in the world left that weren't tainted by Vaatu's sickness. Multiple fountains and waterfalls all poured into the main body of water. Most of the room was basked in an artificial blue glow to spotlight focus on the pool itself. Altogether, it did well enough to entice Korra to want to just forego formalities and to just jump in. 

The lack of puddles surrounding the pool assured Korra that likely no one had visited recently, or even at all in the past few hours. Considering the late hours approaching, it was safe to assume the likelihood of guests showing up for a dip would be very slim. Part of her was thankful for the privacy, although Korra felt disappointed that such beautiful setup was probably not used nearly as much as the effort put in to assemble it. 

It took her a moment to see that the structure of the walls with criss-crossing steel beams showed that it was actually all glass. Beyond the glass were plates of metal, shuttering out what was likely a spectacular view of the city. Korra wondered if all of the windows in the building would have the mandatory Lockdown shields up by now.

"Thanks for waiting."

Korra turned and smiled innocently as a taller woman entered, and Korra lifted her arms as an implied “I Couldn’t Help It!” shrug. Internally, she had hoped to have more alone time to herself. Korra turned in time to see Asami wave her wrist again over the control panel, and then began to fiddling with the control panel as if Korra were not in the room with her at all. Korra was a bit startled when all the lights flashed an unfamiliar bright violet. Korra thought for a moment and then realized that Asami was likely locking the access door from within. Somehow. It did not sound appropriate that a mere hotel guest could get access past a security panel. Though something suggested that slipping into a hotel security control panel was a simple task for Asami.

Now Korra had even more questions about this woman.

While her company was distracted, Korra breathed in several more private moments to herself and approached the edge of the pool. 

The decorative blue robe draped across her chest (that supposedly marked bending heritage) felt heavy, and overall just in her way. It needed to be adjusted before Korra would have the full movement of range she preferred. Every Balancer was encouraged to wear the old fashioned garment in their representing colors. Though Korra was certain that it really only resembled Air Nomad clothing more than the others. Unless everyone happened to dress exactly the same however many centuries ago. However, it did allow Balancers to wear their own authentic clothes on top to properly represent their different cultures. It was more than refreshing having some personal freedom rather than all of them just wearing identical uniforms. Though it was typically the Waterbenders that took advantage of it the most. Korra was certain it was because of their strong attachments to their tribes, and being so far from either the North or South Poles, it felt necessary in order to keep in touch with their homeland. In such, the Waterbenders always seemed to stand out amongst the rest of the Balancers than any other benders. 

Mako and Bolin, for example, never wore a thing beyond the respectively themed robes with their standard uniforms. Well, Mako had his old crimson scarf that was supposedly an heirloom from his father, but Korra never saw other Firebenders wear anything similar. And the brothers’ father had technically been an Earthbender, so it still shouldn't technically count. Mako had said her never felt truly connected to the Fire Nation to really embellish his attire beyond much, mostly because he wasn't a true native of the Fire Nation. 

However, Opal, despite not being a native herself of the Air Nomads (few really were when it came to Airbenders) had embraced the Air Nomad culture and went out of her way to represent it. Her reasoning had been that she felt closer to her element and other Airbenders by doing so. Korra found it refreshing in seeing an appropriately dressed Airbender, what with their numbers being so scarce.

Everyone had their own reasons for how they presented themselves as Balancers. Korra had always appreciated the leniency on wearing uniforms. It definitely helped the public to discern the difference between a the Balancers and the actual police law enforcement. While Balancers would often collaborate with local authorities, they did not serve the public in the same way. 

Korra shrugged off the robe from her arm and let it hang from its anchored position off of the overlapping cloth belt. She gratefully hadn't bothered wearing her coat, much to Mako's frowning disapproval when she showed up this morning for their testing session. Korra hated the thing because it felt so restrictive to her required wide movements. How Opal and the other Airbenders whipped around so acrobatically in those straight-jackets for coats was a total mystery to Korra.

The undershirt was completely free of those terribly tight sleeves by not having any to begin with. Not to mention the dark, muted blue was much more aesthetically pleasing than the boring gunmetal gray on the Balancer’s coat. It certainly didn't help that Korra did not share the sympathies of everyone else when they complained about the climates. Vaatu's dark clouds blocked out the sky six out of every seven days in a week, so it of course also dropped the temperature. But being from the South Pole, Korra felt overdressed for Republic City's climates to begin with. 

Korra balanced on one leg each to tug off her Balancer issued black boots, doing well to maintain balance. Falling into the pool in front of Asami would have damaged her pride for as long as she was stuck in this hotel for the lockdown’s duration.

Korra bounced to her other leg and unlaced the ties on the last boot. She proudly had earned the hard won balance that was coveted from Airbenders. It was entirely thanks to unintentional training sessions with Katara’s son, Tenzin. What had started as tutoring sessions to improve her meditation sessions, expanded after Opal had begged Korra to be her sparring partner. Coordinating with other Airbenders was nearly impossible due to how limited their numbers were, and Opal was desperate to up her training in order to prepare for her approaching Mastery test date. The Airbender Mastery test was notorious for being the most difficult, so it was no wonder Opal had been so anxious. 

Although Korra would admit that Airbenders had the most unique tattoos once they were promoted to Master class. Korra had already obtained her Mastery tattoos years prior, as it was a prerequisite for all ranking Balancers, such as squad captains. Korra felt that the tribal tattoo bands that coiled around her biceps were far more simplistic than the Airbending arrows that went across their entire bodies. So she couldn’t help but feel even slightly envious of the Airbender design. But the idea of having to shave her head in order to get her Mastery Tattoos as all Airbenders eventually had to do had suppressed her envy. 

"Are you just going to swim in your clothes?" Asami politely inquired with a hint of amusement lacing her soothing voice. "I did bring swimsuits from the front desk, if you prefer.”

"Just gonna test the water first." Korra replied vaguely, smiling to herself. 

"Test the water?"

Korra started by elegantly weaved her arms in a rolling form, causing the entire to pool come alive with a single, pulsing ripple. It swirled with Korra's arms, mirroring her movements into a smooth whirlpool. Korra dropped her stance down to prepare for the heavier lift, and altered her movements to become more rigid in order to compensate for the incoming weight. On point, third of the water rose from its place from the pool, and followed Korra’s command around to glide around her as she incorporated more formations to twirl the liquid above her head.

Korra was very surprised at how responsive the water was. She entirely expected it to be weighed down with chemicals and residue leftovers that public pools typically carried. The training swimming pools at Base were used constantly and therefore felt heavy from use. Her fellow Waterbenders would often gripe about getting a better filtration system, or at least cycling the water out to let the previous water reservoirs rest. This made attempting to use Base’s water for healing practice very challenging. But their superiors argued that they would likely never have pure clean water to bend anyways, so it was better for them to train with a difficult medium anyways. 

Korra was thankful she was able to live in the South Pole for the better part of her life. Being constantly surrounded by so much untouched water, especially when in forms of snow and ice. She knew plenty of the other Waterbender Balancers that had never even set foot outside of the Republic’s borders, and therefore had no idea what they were missing. 

Korra didn't notice right away that Asami was completely mesmerized by Korra's absolute control over the water. Korra disciplined herself not to give into temptation and use this chance to actually look at Asami. Least she let the water roaming through the room dump all over the place.

Then again...and with how the lights were positioned around the room....Korra smirked and decided to try something.

"Come over here!" Korra called, not missing her form’s step as she guided her water to loop over the benches across from her. 

Asami responded quickly. “I like being dry, thanks."

Korra laughed, bending the main current into a satisfying loop and taking the largest waterfall display to join her performance.

“Then you must not have ever met any good Waterbenders!" Korra quipped, her confidence spiking and provoking her to dare a sharp pivot. It increased her rotation speed and the water's speed along with it. "I'm serious, come here!"

Asami paused, looking at the elaborate tunnels of water spreading through the air like a magical ballet. 

"You won't get wet, I promise.” Korra encouraged. “Just get over here!"

Korra turned, allowing Asami a moment, and used a strong motion of both arms to gather the water altogether in single, large stream. 

She brought her current back around, and anticipated when to turn with it as she pulled it towards her. There was so much water collected at this point that she and her element were having a back and forth of movements. Korra was very much in control, but now it felt like a communication of expression than just a tool to direct. When she could feel the weight pulling one way, instead of tightening her control, she adapted and rolled her repeating form to move with it. While it did incite exertion, Korra was too enraptured by her connection to feel any sort of fatigue just yet. 

She heard a sharp intake of breath come from Asami as the water current steered at them like a faceless charging watersnake. With a swift moment, she split her stream in half by separating her arms down just as it was about to collide. This is when Korra knew she had gained absolute control of the water. Connecting her movement, Korra spun around the streams of water along to swirl around them in a crisscrossing helix pattern and finally forming the pattern she had pictured. 

This was the moment she wanted. The water grabbed and reflected every variation of light in the room and broke it up into wavy, glowing displays that created a webbed dome of lights around them. Reds blurred with the whites to create and illusionary collection of pinks. The blues and greens crossed together to introduce experimental turquoises. 

As Korra turned around, Asami had been standing directly behind her. She almost instantly lost all of her precise control and had almost dropped all of the water. 

There was an initial shock in Asami's bright colored eyes that matched her own. Being so close and so suddenly seeing her for the first time, on top of being intermixed with her elation of playing with her own natural element, threw Korra off guard and into something unknown. The illusions of swirling lights dancing around them from the water intensified, and Korra could spot an endless combination of colors dotting playing around in the reflection of Asami's eyes. Although there was no way Korra could even guess what her eye color even was right now, she was at a loss for words because of them. Better put, there was a mix of calm, curiosity, soulfulness and something she could not quite describe that spiked Korra’s interest. 

Korra also couldn't find an adequate word for how gorgeous the woman was. She had never even entertained the idea that Asami would even be attractive. The reveal certainly stunned her. 

Flawless fair skin. Sharply sculpted bone structure. Gentle sloping eyes. Full, dark lips. 

Korra’s entire neck tightened along with her throat. There was no way Asami could be real. 

Her arms were frozen in position, pausing from her surprise but still maintaining the floating water in place with unprecedented discipline. Though it didn't stop the natural drip and curling waves of the water itself from moving. It only seemed to add to the moment since the water’s reflection was still shifting the positioning of the lights soaking the surface. 

Nothing could stop Korra from glancing from Asami's nose, then shamefully right to her lips. They were immaculately darkened with lipstick with no sign of smudges or stray feathering. Korra’s gaze recovered into taking in her whole face, now noticing the darker eye shadowing that was responsible for bringing out the sharp brilliance of Asami’s eyes. 

The oddest part of it it all, was that there was an eerie feeling masquerading as recognition. Korra knew there was no possible way she had ever met this girl, since there was no way she could of forgotten her. That pleasant warmth that bubbled in her insides whenever she saw one of her friends and family, it was present now. Only the additional equal mix of excitement and awe accompanying this feeling of familiarity. 

Korra swallowed, and the strain in her muscles signified that they had been stopped for some time. 

Was it still considered eye contact, or were the two of them just mutually staring at one another? 

"You're right," Asami finally said, her voice faltering slightly at first before she licked her lips. It had given away Asami’s fluster, causing the surge of giddiness in Korra. "I definitely haven’t met any good Waterbenders like you before."

Korra weakly laughed, displaying her nervousness outright. "Well, I," she lightly cleared her throat that had been suddenly stripped dry for words. "I hope you mean that as a compliment?”

Asami opened her mouth as if to say something, but repressed it with a shy smile, humming her confirmation in place of actual words. Korra immediately noticed as Asami took a trim bite into her own lower lip for a short second. The action made Korra’s tongue swell and want to swallow hard again. Her mouth felt hard and barren. 

Korra’s arms were protesting with a deafening burning sensation at this point. She offered an awkward smile, worrying that it would be rude to break eye contact at….whatever she was experiencing with Asami.

However, the floor beneath them shuddered, and the walls shook angrily for a frightful few seconds. Korra reacted with the first rumbles, pulling the dome of water into a thick shield of ice. Some of the water splashed against them from the sudden movement. The ice groaned and Korra could feel the threats of cracking in some sections. She yanked Asami towards her until they were pressed together. She then brought her free hand up to tighten the ice closer to them, choosing to shrink the dome for thickness and strength. Korra immediately brought them both down to their knees, one arm going around Asami’s shoulders with their now evened height.

The very air around them was doused with the frigid cold Korra had brought on, making their breath visible in stark puffs. The shaking leveled into a uneven pulse, and cut out very suddenly. Korra assumed that several Earthbenders had regained control of whatever had caused the tremor. 

“I think something hit the building?” Asami offered, turned to look at Korra and nearly brushing their noses together. 

Korra nodded, though unsure whether to release her ice. They both knew all to well what that “something” truly was. Though dark, there was an eerie glow still penetrating through the ice, allowing her to still vaguely still see Asami. 

She reached above her head with both hands, carving the ice away from them and allowing a hole just big enough for Korra to poke her head out. 

Scanning the room around her, she noticed a startling crack that was fissured though the wall. What little water that was left in the pool that Korra hadn't taken, it was trying to push its way through, slowly draining and escaping. 

Korra huffed, and then with a swift uppercut motion, took a chunk of the borrowed ice and sliced it from the rest of her iceberg of a shield. With a spin that started from a smooth movement from the ball of her foot, she brought up both arms and shot out one in a powerful punch to rocket it into the wall. Just as it was about to shatter, Korra inhaled sharply to will the energy to twist the ice back into water. Still slushy, it slopped against the wound in the wall with a hard smack. Korra then pulled back her arms, changing her footwork slightly to be heavier and more grounded. She then shot the icy water up to over the entire crack to sternly re-solidify it in the thickest ice she could muster. 

“That’ll hold it for awhile,” Korra noted. A nagging thought breathed in the back of her mind. The crack affecting the cement portion of the wall by the base of the pool, alright, that she could accept. However, what she couldn't accept was that the crack unnaturally split into the metal and the glass of the structure as well. 

She squinted her trained eyes at it for a moment. It seemed more fitting to call it a tear or a rip, since it maintained a single gash consistently as if the cement, glass and metal were all the same material. 

Asami looked between Korra and the wall, and blinked several times. 

"That style you just did-"

Korra stiffened. Most other benders had never really caught on and would have missed it. She certainly never would think Asami would have been able to notice. 

"That didn't look like the usual waterbending style." Asami observed. 

‘That’s because it isn’t. Not even close.’ Korra answered silently, but dared not announce it aloud and instead replied with her mouth slightly hanging open.  
 “Uh…” She tried, unsure how to explain herself. 

An unsettling feeling loomed in the air, making it taste static and heavy, and thankfully put the potential conversation on standby. She held up a hand, and looked around, prompting them both to stop to listen and look around on full alert. 

“We should head to the lobby.” Korra thought aloud. Asami held her questioning look, and Korra felt like Asami would likely ask her again why she was using a supposed foreign form for Waterbending.

Asami turned and nodded in agreement, but the look on her face shifted and showed that something was troubling her beyond the quake. She looked more than unnerved. She almost looked guilted. 

Korra reached and took Asami by her wrist, pulling her along. Asami made a quick swipe with her own access bracelet at the panel, and they both looked at the door expectedly when it did not respond immediately. 

“You hacked it, didn’t you?” Korra pointed out.

“Not hacked, really,” Asami answered, adjusting her arm from Korra’s grip to where she was instead comfortably resting her arm on Korra’s. It made Korra feel a bit chivalrous, even though Asami had initiated it. “It should have at least reacted to mine-“

She waved her wrist over the panel, but it only responded with a flashing red blink. Asami let out a disapproving growl and her eyes narrowed. 

“Fine. This will only take a second.” Without removing her arm from Korra’s, Asami made a strange motion with her wrist while hovering over to the side. The lights blinked again, and she quickly hit the side of the panel with her middle finger. The hologram screen projected out, and before any errors were even able to lock her out, Asami’s long fingers typed faster than Korra could follow. 

A loading bar appeared, followed by an lock icon popping up and animating an unlock motion. GRANTED, it flashed on the screen, to which Asami promptly shut off the hologram as the door slid open.

“I-“Korra blinked and looked at Asami. “I think that actually only did take you a second! What did you-?“

“May have to tell the manager that the security should probably be updated.” Asami said with a very controlled smirk, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. “If it was any good, that should of taken me at the least fifteen seconds.” 

“Let’s hope it’s just for the pool room.”

“Better be, for the rates they charge here.”

Korra snorted, her cheeks tightening her smile and her stomach mirroring the tightening sensation. Despite all of the bothersome mysteries clinging to Asami, the girl was very easy to like. 

As they stepped into the hallway, Korra felt the hair on her arms and nape stand up. She was instantly alert. 

“Definitely don’t like this...” Korra turned around to look over her shoulder, her attention gravitating towards the crack by the pool.

The sight she met with caused her to push Asami through the panel door just and allowed it to shut completely to bar Korra herself from leaving. 

Rising out of the pool, a gangly black shape attempting to resemble that of a platypus-bear with a saber-tooth moose lion's antlers. It had an exaggerated bow in its back made it look all the more massive and threatening. Though Korra could not see any discernible eyes, she knew it was glaring right at her.

Korra's breath lodged in her throat, her eyes looking between the dark spirit and the rest of the room, quickly calculating her surroundings. 

The dark spirit slumped and dropped back into the pool as it were empty space instead of water. Korra hated their creepy movements. Her arms mimicked an alternating windmill motion to coax the water back to her command, Korra immediately followed the movement by jumping forward tearing a wave of water out of the pool. She heaved the water to the door behind her and froze it into a blockade of ice. Just as the water had solidified, the dark spirit was at the panel door and was forced to stop short from the ice block its path. 

Korra's mouth dropped in surprise. She had froze the door as a precaution to lock them both in and to impede the risk of Asami becoming involved. But dark spirits were known to always single out benders in a fight, and the more accomplished the bender, the more ravenously hostile they would be attacked. In contrast, they ignored anyone else, like non-benders. 

Korra could tell that Asami was no bender, so then why did go by Korra and head for the door instead? 

Then the young Balancer realized something else entirely. Yes, she had sealed off the only entrance and exit to the room, but she had unknowingly given herself another powerful advantage. She was completely alone, with no one to witness or question any method she used to take out this dark spirit. 

Korra smirked to herself, her so-called wild and recklessness bubbling with excitement. It was too scarce she was given such opportunities to go all out. And especially so for her to test out her own….methods. 

She popped her head from side to side, loosening up the muscles in her shoulders and took the same parallel side stance that Mako often took before engaging in a fight. 

“You’re in a for a real surprise, fluffy!” Korra taunted, her grin widening with full blown mischievousness. 

Korra threw a quick succession of jabs and the water on the floor flared and hissed in response. At her third quick jab, she lifted her leg up to propel herself into a spinning tornado kick that guided her water to slash and sear at the dark spirit’s back. 

Whatever trance it had been in was clearly broken after the brutal ambush. 

Korra bobbed on the balls of her feet, shuffling around and smiling from ear to ear. Even the dark spirit seemed perplexed by her behavior as it curled around and dropped to all fours. It shuddered and made a noise Korra could only describe as growling, and its body protruded out a nasty set of barbs from its back and railed it along its spine. 

The ghostly figure lunged at her, and Korra felt a punch of fear hit her gut when it launched at her with a surprising speed. She rolled out of the way, but not enough to avoid the attack completely. She felt nauseated and sick, and the water that had been gripped under her influence seeped out of her control and flopped to the ground. 

Korra could hear Tenzin’s stern voice echo in her memories about dark spirits. Their attacks went beyond just physical, and while they could mortally wound anyone, the real danger was the attacks directed mostly at one’s chi. Dark spirits seemed to have a radiative reach that poisoned and disrupted people’s chakras, and the longer or more direct the exposure, the worse and longer the damages would be. 

Korra had to take several breaths to steady herself, but forced herself to move before a full recovery could be made. She punched forth several jets of water back at the beast, and then an extended kick to follow up with a long spout of water to push the spirit against the wall. It stumbled for a moment, its head unnaturally turning and jerking as it tried to read her movements. 

It clambered up the wall and along the dome until it was above her, then stretched its head backward and readied to drop down on her. At the last moment, the spirit surprised Korra by pushing itself off the ceiling and diving even faster down on top of her. 

Korra ripped out a yell from her throat as she rolled forward, moving her arms with her movement and pulling water from the pool like a massive blanket to be draped over her. As her legs came up after her knees, she awkwardly braced herself and twisted her body around to redirect the water and envelop the spirit into a water trap. 

It splashed and kicked to escape the sphere it was now submerged in, Korra holding it in barely changing the inner currents and twisting it against itself. She started to slow her breathing, a biting back the distraction that victory was tempting her with. 

Korra corrected her posture by holding a difficult long stance, but was necessary considering the shape of the water she was conducting. She used the pounding heartbeat that was up to her ears to be a makeshift metronome, pulling the water into two opposite currents. 

As she breathed out, she tried to let go of her tension or any doubt that the dark spirit would no doubt grab onto to break out of the water prison. Korra couldn’t even remember the last time she had to do an exorcism on a dark spirit. Thankfully, she had been able to end the fight and agitated it only slightly, so expelling all of the negative energy with her own was not as complex as it could have escalated to. 

Korra’s so called “cheating” method to attain balance for herself was to focus only on her breathing until she was aware of only her own presence and leveling out her heartbeat. Tenzin’s meditation lessons went by far easier once his own daughter, Jinora, had suggested the idea to Korra. 

In and out, she breathed, air in through her nostrils and heavily exhaled out of her mouth. The redundant movements she made to maintain the current smoothed out and the dark spirit within was no longer struggling. It had not drowned, since these things did not perish the same way a mortal would. 

Korra felt out of her own skin, perhaps detached. Empty not quite being the word. She supposed the feeling of being a trance was best left un-described by words. 

She hadn’t realized she had closed her eyes, but when she had reopened them, her sphere of water was streaming evenly back into the pool once again, and a fading light dimmed out of the room. 

The spirit was gone. 

Korra closed her form, and respectfully bid farewell to the spirit, wishing it no ill-will as she bowed herself from the waist up. Returning to her full height, Korra exhaled deeply. She was certainly feeling drained from the exorcism, but it still rewarded her with refreshing satisfaction to have sent off the spirit.

Korra had returned the pool display to it’s original state the best she could after rooming her ice blockade from the door. As the ice was removed, the panel door slide openly immediately. Korra arched a brow in surprise, and noticed that the controls next to the door were sparking and flickering. She winced, but smiled to herself. 

“Whoops?” Korra scratched her head and then quickly left the room before anyone could blame her for destroying the controls. 

Yellow and white siren lights that had dropped down from the ceiling were circling their warnings all down the hallways. Korra jogged down the hallways, deciding it best to head for the lobby and find out from the staff if there were any other dark spirits that made it in and were terrorizing the building. 

Then again, knowing her own luck, Korra figured it would be even more likely encounter them along the way. 

As she found the emergency stairwell and forced open the heavy door, she wondered at the expense of a heated blush, if Asami had found someplace safe to hold up and if they would be able to run into each other again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO~! I ended up scrapping a lot of it because it created more kinks for me to work out than it did to progress anything. Much shorter than I intended, but I feel it'll be easier for me to progress from here without it feeling too terribly forced. 
> 
> And okay, maybe I oversold the "girl on girl" promise a bit. I apologize if anyone feels bamboozled! Ended up being more of my take on "love at first sight." That water scene was the best, but also the most difficult for me write, so I certainly hope it came off as romantically as I was going for!


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